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Development and Implementation of Courses for Theatre Technicians and Stage Managers

May 20, 2014

SCENTEC project

Romana Boskovic, PhD, Assistant Professor
Milena Krkljes, PhD, Assistant Professor

Presentation for OISTAT Technology Annual Meeting, April 10-13, 2014



Introduction
Theatre technicians and stage managers working in theatres and all sorts of public venues in Serbia are not adequately trained for their work. Those results were to be expected since there are no training courses for theatre technicians. That situation has a negative effect on the creative standards of theatre productions but, more importantly it has a negative effect on the safety issues. In environment, without adequate legal regulations and without adequately trained people, the work in theatres and public venues becomes hazardous.

In Serbia, in recent years, some university level studies have been established. At the University of Novi Sad there are: at the Faculty of Technical Sciences - Undergraduate Academic Studies Scene Architecture, Technique and Design , at the Academy of Arts – Undergraduate and Master Studies Light Design and Recording and Sound Design. At the University of Arts in Belgrade, Faculty of Dramatic Arts – there are Undergraduate Studies Recording and Sound Design.

For majority of currently working technicians it is unrealistic to expect to undergo full four or five years of study, nor they need to, since they already have a certain level of knowledge gained from experience in theatres and other public events.

In accordance with the strategy for lifelong learning and for connecting universities with the labour market, the aim of SCENTEC project is to design and implement training courses which would allow theatre technicians and stage managers to gain necessary expertise, but we also want them to share their valuable expertise with university professors and students. For that reason, working groups for designing courses in the field of light, sound and stage management were created from university professors and heads of technical staff in theatres. The partners from EU countries provided necessary expertise since they have a lot of experience in training theatre technicians. People trained as theatre technicians can work in theatres, in all sorts of public venues; they are needed for constructing exhibition stands at trade fairs and in numerous situations where something is presented physically in front of an audience.

The final decision for creating this kind of project was brought at the meeting of the Education Commission of OISTAT under the theme “Education in the field of theatre technology and management - programs and new trends”, held on 3-6th of November 2010 in Novi Sad, organized by SCEN (Serbian Centre for Scene Design, Architecture and Technology). SCEN is a research centre founded by the Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, and it is the driving force behind all the research on the above mentioned subjects. Representatives from all the schools in the consortium of this project have participated at these meetings, and conclusion has been reached that it would be very useful, even necessary to have courses for theatre technicians and stage managers in Serbia. 


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